FROM THE ARCHIVE: King's Hill

I wanted to re-visit some of the projects I've done in the distant past, perhaps as a way of exploring some photographic ideas which I'd like to put back into my current work.

First up is this series on an alternative community in the south of England. I first met them over twenty years ago on a site near Glastonbury in the south of England when I was drifting around. 

Here's a shot from that first body of work. It's an image that's  remained one of my personal favourites for its simplicity and complexity. For me it raises a number of ideas around the themes of identity and portraiture; the blank canvas, the dark subject recalling the silhouette portraits of the late 18th century, the juxtaposition of the mother and child painting on the wall, and the detail of the young girls eyes peering over the top of the canvas. It's an image that I'm yet to tire of after all these years.

That was back in 1990 and ten years later I returned to Glastonbury to find them again to follow on the project as part of my degree course at Newport. The community had since moved on to a piece of land out of town which they now owned. They continued to be dedicated to this alternative lifestyle in something of an experiment in sustainable living.

I stayed with them over a period of two weeks, documenting their daily lives and producing a series of portraits. By now I was shooting in colour, using a medium format Bronica SQA and I still love the feel and quality of these images. 

It's interesting to think that the whole series was produced with one camera, two lenses, some 400asa film and natural light. There is something liberating about the simplicity of this aproach. Perhaps a simplicity that particularly suited the subject matter. Perhaps a simplicity that let me concentrate on the subject and not on the technology. 

This project also stays in my mind because it was my first published piece. The story appeared in the Observer Life Magazine over two double-page spreads.

Another ten years have passed since then. Perhaps it's time to go find my friends again.